A New Westminster-based group that raised money to buy a gravestone for a forgotten First World War veteran is inviting the community to the unveiling this weekend.
Last November, the Society of the Officers of the Honourable Guard ran an online fundraiser to raise money for a gravestone for William Stevenson, a First World War veteran who died 79 years ago.
After only a few days, the group had raised more than $4,500, more than four times the amount needed to buy Stevenson’s stone, according to Rob Rathbun, a member of the Society of the Officers of the Honourable Guard.
This Saturday, Nov. 3, the group will unveil Stevenson’s gravestone in a small ceremony, and it’s inviting the community to attend.
“I think it really struck a nerve,” Rathbun said. “This year we marked the 100th anniversary of the end of the First World War, and how does it feel to have somebody who served in the First World War and for 79 years their grave wasn’t even marked?
“Essentially it’s undoing a wrong.”
Stevenson was originally from Manitoba and fought in the First World War. After the war, he moved to New Westminster to a home at 315 East Columbia St. (His home would have been right across from the Royal Columbian Hospital at Hospital Street.)
He died of a stroke on April 14, 1939.
Because Stevenson had no family in the area and wasn’t married, according to his death records, there was no one around to pay for a headstone.
The Honourable Guard Society came up with the idea to buy Stevenson a stone thanks to some curious kids. Since 2013, the society has been taking school kids on trips to Fraser Cemetery to teach them about the wars. The kids often ask about the unmarked graves, not understanding why the men wouldn’t have headstones, according to Rathbun.
Now that they’ve secured the funds for Stevenson’s gravestone, the society has decided to team up with the Last Post Fund to buy more stones for other veterans buried at Fraser Cemetery in unmarked graves.
“There’s at least, a minimum of 15 of them,” Rathbun said.
Rathbun couldn’t say when these stones will be purchased or when the unveilings will take place.
“We don’t want to do a large number at once, because it doesn’t give due credit to the individual. So what we’re going to do is we’re going to do them in threes,” he said.
Stevenson’s gravestone unveiling is happening on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 1:30 p.m. at the Fraser Cemetery.
Everyone is invited to attend.
Folks are also encouraged to take part in the society’s annual stone cleaning. It’s also taking place at the cemetery on Saturday between noon and 3 p.m. For more information, go to tinyurl.com/gravecleaning.
